11 Payne & Fears Attorneys Honored by Best Lawyers
August 24, 2026 —
Payne & FearsCongratulations to the 11 Payne & Fears attorneys included in the 2027 Edition of “Lawyer of the Year” and The Best Lawyers In America®. Attorneys have been recognized in the following practice areas:
“Lawyer of the Year” (2027 Edition)
Orange County
The Best Lawyers in America® (2027 Edition)
Irvine, CA
- Jeffrey K. Brown
- Employment Law – Management
- Labor Law – Management
- Litigation – Labor and Employment
- Daniel F. Fears
- Employment Law – Management
- Labor Law – Management
- Litigation – Labor and Employment
- Daniel M. Livingston
- Commercial Litigation
- Litigation – Real Estate
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Payne & Fears
Data Center Construction and the AEC Partner of the Future
April 14, 2026 —
Aarni Heiskanen - AEC BusinessDuring my involvement in designing mobile phone production facilities, the speed of design and construction was critical. Any delay could directly translate into lost revenue. That same logic now applies to data centers, though the stakes are much higher. Instead of optimizing physical production lines, we are constructing infrastructure for digital production.
The global data center capacity is expected to nearly double by 2030, and with this level of demand, the traditional project-by-project delivery model begins to show its limitations.
Data centers are no longer isolated projects in the traditional sense. They are evolving into repeatable, scalable production systems, making them ideal environments for AEC process and business model innovation.
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Aarni Heiskanen, AEC BusinessMr. Heiskanen may be contacted at
aec-business@aepartners.fi
Beyond the Storm: How Non-Hurricane Catastrophes Expose Florida’s Construction Defect Blind Spot
August 11, 2026 —
Franchesco “Frank” Soto & Amanda L. Gonzalez - Ball JanikOn June 8, 2026, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck the Gulf near the coast of Cuba, the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in the Gulf since seismic monitoring began in 1950. Buildings swayed, offices were evacuated, and many residents along the east coast of Florida, from Miami-Dade to Jacksonville, felt the ground shake. Although no tsunami followed and reported structural damage was limited, this event exposed a blind spot that Florida property owners, developers, and their counsel cannot afford to ignore: catastrophic stress on Florida buildings does not always come in the form of a named storm.
Florida property owners have grown accustomed to preparing for wind, storm surge, floods, and torrential rain. Far less attention is paid to earthquakes, sinkholes, tornadoes, hail, and non-tropical flooding, each of which can place unexpected stress on buildings not designed with those forces top of mind and can trigger deficiencies in buildings that were not otherwise known, expose design failures, and create an urgency for both insurance claims and subsequent litigation.
Non-Hurricane Triggers of Latent Defects
Seismic activity is the clearest example. Florida’s building code accounts for wind loads, not seismic forces, meaning even a moderate earthquake can reveal weaknesses in curtain wall systems, structural connections, or foundations that were already marginal. Sinkholes, driven by Florida’s karst limestone geology, remain a persistent threat, particularly in Central Florida, where subsurface voids can undermine foundations without warning. Non-tropical flooding, like the record rainfall that flooded South Florida in June 2024, can intrude through building envelopes and waterproofing systems that were never stress-tested for such volumes of water. Tornadoes and hail, while more localized, can cause roofing and envelope failures that mimic, mask, or trigger latent construction defects.
The Litigation and Coverage Disputes That Follow
When one of these events strikes a building already carrying undisclosed or unresolved construction defects, the resulting disputes become considerably more complex. Property owners and associations must move quickly to document existing conditions and distinguish damage caused by the event from pre-existing defective construction, the same causation issue that arises in the hurricane context under Chapter 558, but often without the benefit of established precedent or adjuster experience with these less common events.
Insurance coverage disputes frequently follow close behind. Carriers may dispute whether an earthquake, flood, or other peril is covered at all, particularly where policies contain earthquake or flood exclusions requiring separate endorsements, or anti-concurrent causation language that can bar coverage entirely when a covered peril combines with an uncovered one, such as pre-existing defective construction, to cause a loss. Sinkhole claims carry their own statutory framework under Florida law, requiring specific testing protocols and reporting before a claim is compensable. Developers and contractors, in turn, may find themselves defending Chapter 558 claims while simultaneously litigating with their own carriers over defense and indemnity obligations.
Practical Risk Mitigation Strategies
Property owners, associations, and developers can take several concrete steps to reduce their exposure. First, maintain thorough documentation, including engineering reports, maintenance logs, and photographs, well before any event occurs. This documentation is often the deciding factor in causation disputes. Second, engage structural engineers and consultants immediately following any seismic event, unusual flooding, or storm damage, regardless of whether a hurricane is involved. Prompt inspection preserves evidence and can help prevent inadvertent waiver of construction defect claims. Third, review insurance policies regularly with counsel or a broker to confirm earthquake, flood, and sinkhole coverage matches the property’s actual risk profile, rather than assuming a standard property policy responds to every peril. Fourth, avoid rushing to remediate before conditions are documented and/or before consulting counsel. Well-intentioned repairs can inadvertently compromise evidence needed to prove a defect claim.
The June earthquake was a reminder that Florida’s catastrophic risk profile extends beyond hurricane season. Property owners, associations, and developers who build readiness plans around all forms of catastrophic stress, not just named storms, will be far better positioned when the next unexpected event occurs.
Franchesco “Frank” Soto is a partner in
Ball Janik’s Construction Defect Practice Group in Miami. He may be reached at fsoto@balljanik.com.
Amanda L. Gonzalez is a litigation attorney in
Ball Janik’s Construction Defect Practice Group in Miami. She may be reached at agonzalez@balljanik.com.
Construction Contract Negotiation & Drafting: A Practical Checklist (and Where State-Specific Issues Can Surprise You)
April 20, 2026 —
Michelle Cooper - Sheppard Construction and Infrastructure Law BlogConstruction contract negotiation is often treated as a “forms exercise,” especially when the parties start from familiar templates (e.g., AIA forms). In practice, though, the biggest problems tend to arise not from the existence of a form, but from (i) misalignment among the project’s governing documents and participants, (ii) ambiguity in pricing and payment mechanics, and (iii) state-specific statutory requirements that override negotiated terms.
This article includes a practical checklist intended to help owners, developers, and contractors streamline contract negotiations, reduce downstream disputes, and avoid unpleasant surprises during payment administration.
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Michelle Cooper, SheppardMs. Cooper may be contacted at
mcooper@sheppard.com
Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (8/5/26) – Data Centers Reshape Hotel Demand, AI Changes Construction Workflows and Global Tariffs Raise CRE Construction Costs
August 16, 2026 —
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogIn our latest roundup, AI creates new real estate play for VCs, Wall Street sells more rental homes, builders capitalize on flood of water projects and more!
- Data center construction has the potential to be a significant opportunity for extended stay hotels in the near and long term, provided sustainable demand patterns exist within a given market. (Jenna Graber, Hotel Dive)
- Artificial intelligence doesn’t represent an “extinction event” for AEC firms, but it will fundamentally change the way construction pros streamline certain tasks. (Matthew Thibault, Construction Dive)
- With the 21st Century ROAD to Housing now law, there are a number of outstanding questions about implementation and compliance for multifamily pros. (Julie Strupp, Multifamily Dive)
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Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team
We’re Burning Tokens to Clean Up Bad PDFs
August 24, 2026 —
Aarni Heiskanen - AEC BusinessLast Thursday, researchers from Tampere and Aalto universities reported on preliminary results of two AI- and digitalization-related projects. One project demonstrated how AI can automate the Bill of Materials process; the other tried to quantify the impact of data-driven construction and AI. The conclusion was that AI-powered automation can dramatically increase productivity, but unevenly. However, the substantial benefits may come from better outcomes rather than project efficiency.
Various standards, company-specific practices, project-specific schemas, and traditions are designed for humans to comprehend. 2D drawings and text documents as PDF files, Excel sheets, and design and planning software have the information, but not the data in ideal form for automation.
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Aarni Heiskanen, AEC BusinessMr. Heiskanen may be contacted at
aec-business@aepartners.fi
GRSM Trial Team Holds Alameda County Asbestos Verdict to $900,000 Against $50 Million Demand
July 27, 2026 —
Gordon Rees Scully MansukhaniGordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partners John Katerndahl and Vincent Gunter recently obtained an outstanding trial result for a manufacturer of asbestos-containing electrical cable, holding a jury verdict to $900,000 against a $50 million demand following an eight-week trial in Alameda County Superior Court, which is among the most challenging asbestos venues in the country. The GRSM team also included Associate Brandon Sanchez, on-site trial Paralegal Laura Vitanova, and Paralegal Kerrie Lease.
The plaintiffs, the surviving spouse and four children of a former painter who died of mesothelioma, alleged that the decedent was exposed to asbestos from the company’s electrical cable during construction of a California nuclear power facility. GRSM’s client was the sole remaining defendant at trial. The plaintiffs asked the jury for $50 million and called 15 witnesses across their case-in-chief and rebuttal.
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Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Only A Contractor Can Appeal a Contracting Officer’s Final Decision
April 20, 2026 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesA recent decision from the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals confirms that “only a ‘contractor’ may file an appeal of a contracting officer’s final decision.” Wattiker v. General Services Administration, 2026 WL 846001 (CBCA 2026) (citation omitted).
The term “contractor is not an ambiguous term. A ‘contractor’ refers to a party to a federal government contract. Wattiker (citing the Contract Disputes Act). This is why the Contract Disputes Act does not apply to parties that are NOT in contract with the federal government. Id.
In Wattiker, an appellant (appealing party) challenged the dismissal of a co-appellant. The co-appellant was dismissed because he was not a contractor, i.e., a party in contract with the federal government. In other words, the co-appellant had no privity of contract with the federal government.
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David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
